On Monday, the N.C. Senate voted to repeal the 2009 Racial Justice Act, which allowed judges in death penalty cases to consider statistical evidence of historic racial bias. The repeal now goes to Gov. Perdue’s desk. Thus, the 1950s Retread Squadron, also known as the GOP majority in the N.C. General Assembly, continues its battle to drag our state back to that less-kind, far-from-gentle, not to mention systemically unjust, decade which Republicans and their ignorant, fundamentalist, ill-tempered base view as a golden age.
Ah yes, those were the days — when women couldn’t terminate a pregnancy without risking prison, when blacks and the poor could be kept from voting at the whim of a local political boss, when the disabled had the good taste to stay out of sight, when gay men and lesbians had to hide who they were for fear of arrest or worse, and the state could execute black men till the cows came home without having to worry over lousy liberals wailing about some candy-assed notion like “justice.”
One thing you can say about the Retread Squadron is that it’s confident. These people apparently don’t mind throwing away what African American votes they might have had a chance to garner in the 2012 elections, nor the votes of independents who may not trust Democrats but don’t want to vote for obvious racists, either.
The Charlotte Observer’s editorial department today said Gov. Perdue shouldn’t veto the new bill, but should work toward doing away with the death penalty altogether. You can read the paper’s take on the situation here. I think Perdue should do both: veto the bill, which was designed specifically to appeal to the Retread Squadron’s sad base of supporters’ worst instincts — and work on moving the state toward halting capital punishment in North Carolina.
One useful measure would be to do the same as Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, who announced a reprieve for his state’s death-row inmates for the duration of his term. Then let the next governor be the one to reinstate capital punishment, if he/she thinks it’s politically viable. One thing’s for sure: this latest hateful move by the legislature’s GOP is another indication that these guys are truly nasty pieces of work.
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2011.
oh my god – you are a freaking clown. Where is it you got your journalistic degree ?? probably the same place Chelsea Clinton got her credentials for being on a so called major news network.
How about legislation on executing more prisoners on death row – white, black or whatever race. You use death row killers to demonize rebublicans and you call yourself an american.
What is a ReBublican? A Republican who blows bubbles? Has a bubbly personality? Or is named Bubba? Or is it a Jewish grandmother? A fan of Michael Buble’s singing? Please tell me, o wise one.
So, it’s ok to execute white people, just not blacks? Or are you against the death penalty all together?
You do know that majority of murders (in fact all criminals)convicted are black, so there are going to be more on death row.
If you are against the death penalty just say so, I understand. However, comparing elected officals to Klan members (aka murders) just makes you look foolish.
You’re undoubtedly the sorriest excuse for a journalist I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading ! Before you go shooting that FAT mouth of yours off, you should do some research first ! I guess they didn’t teach you that in grade school, because that’s obviously as high an education you’ve ever had !
John..Just what is this rant referencing? Your dislike of the republican party and the death penalty for sure.
How about you and those like you pay that $15,000,000.00 a year for the 157 ‘convects’ on death row and get out of my monies. I do not like supporting a convict evil enough to be on death row. It does not matter to me what color his/her skin or what their background may have been.
I live in Klan country. It is peaceful. Very conservative farm land, very little crime. You would never know it was Klan country unless you crossed the invisible line of respect within the community. So your comparison is …well ignorant to say the least. Like the rest of your rant.
First off. I am a liberal. In every sense and definition of the word. I believe in the death penalty. I also own guns. I contribute weekly online to the OWS movement.
The issues that I personally have with the death penalty is unscrupulous police and prosecutors and the tactics and motivations that they have in securing an arrest and a guilty verdict. It is my personal belief that too many on death row do not belong there for far too many reasons to list here.
I feel that if prosecutorial malfeasance is proven that the DA or ADA who tried the case should automatically receive the same sentence as the convicted. If we are going to take a persons life for a heinous crime, every possible piece of evidence needs to be examined and brought to light and not hidden or withheld from the defense.
Once guilt is firmly established…..execute them. Quickly. If you cannot prove with cold hard provable facts, then the death penalty should not be on the table.
Rational, intelligent, educated people do not support the death penalty.
So it comes as no surprise that I see abject stupidity like this every time I open a CL article and read the comments section – no wonder North Carolina is consistently ranked as one of the dumbest states in the nation.
Most civilized countries on this planet consider state executions to be a human rights violation.
Dear Wes,
It is actually people like you who make this great state seem dumb. You don’t want to execute individuals who have committed extremely violent acts that have resulted in someones death and therefor are locked up in our prison system at a cost higher than the average person makes in a year. So while we can’t afford to pay our teachers or improve our roads or supply decent human beings with food and shelter you want us to spend millions in taxpayer money to keep alive these low life criminals that will never see the outside world again. Its that dumb nonsense thinking that has made North Carolina seem like a very uneducated state.
For my new bff Thomas Eugene Wicker, thanks for the rant. Next time, perhaps consider using counter-arguments rather than mere insults. As for education, yes, I did graduate from grade school and, unlike some, pursued an education past the community college level. Does that help?
Yes. I’m sorry about the rant, and you’re right, I should’ve done better in a counter-argument than shooting MY fat mouth off! My bad!